


My Gift Is My Song and This One's For You

by britni_biohazard



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Hannigram - Freeform, M/M, Music, will plays piano
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 01:42:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5478632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britni_biohazard/pseuds/britni_biohazard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannibal trades one of his secrets in exchange for one of Will's. When Hannibal's is a less than happy one, Will decides to try to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Gift Is My Song and This One's For You

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fluff fic that popped into my head when I heard this song on the radio. I know I'm not the best writer, so please be kind. I hope you enjoy.

One of Will's favorite things about his arrangement with Hannibal was that every now and then, since he wasn't officially his psychiatrist, he would come to Will's house for their “conversations." These talks were always more relaxed than his usual office visits and Hannibal enjoyed seeing him in his “natural habitat” as he called it. If Will was honest with himself, he enjoyed letting Hannibal into his little bubble. He wasn't in the habit of having friends over, but for some reason he never seemed put out when Hannibal showed up, unannounced or otherwise. 

At this particular moment, they both stood on his front porch, content to just watch the dogs run around the front yard. Will could feel Hannibal's gaze shift to him every so often. He had noticed a long time ago that Hannibal observed everyone, so it didn't make him feel as uncomfortable as it did when they first met. While he didn't think he would ever be completely comfortable with anyone staring at him, for whatever reason he tolerated it from his friend. Hell, sometimes he downright enjoyed it, but those moments were short and he quickly felt that pang of discomfort that he got when attention was thrown his way. He considered all of this a sign of his increased level of comfort in their friendship. He knew, even though they never mentioned it, that it was appreciated. 

“Deep in thought, Will?” Hannibal said, breaking into his thoughts and bringing him back to the moment. The dogs had all charged up to the porch and were staring up at their master expectantly, obviously tired of being outside. 

Will laughed, “Yeah, just a bit, it seems. Would have to be if I missed this stampede charging me.” He opened the front door and watched as the dogs fanned out into his living room and kitchen, each finding a comfy spot before plopping down like the lazy beasts he knew them to be. 

He glanced back at Hannibal. “Would you like to move to the living room? It is getting kind of cold. I didn't notice before.” 

Hannibal gave a quick nod and followed him into the house. “I'm curious as to where your thoughts were, Will. Do you mind sharing them?” He sat in his usual arm chair, the one that Will made sure the dogs never sat on. 

“Nothing that's very interesting, honestly,” he replied. “Wouldn't want to bore you with the random thoughts that pop into my head.” 

“Nonsense,” Hannibal replied, leaning back and clasping his hands together. His therapist stance. “I can't imagine anything in your head as being uninteresting. You, as a whole, are a very interesting person, Will. You don't give yourself enough credit.” 

He stared out the window, watching the streaks of orange and pink in the sky fade to deep purples and blacks. “No, it's not that. It's just that I don't think that random, everyday thoughts about having a friend over and being content with watching my animals run around is constructive way to spend our time together.” He looked back to the doctor, his face as blank and unreadable as he kept it during their office sessions. 

“Do you wish to talk about something more personal then? Anything in particular that you have in mind?” 

Will let out a short laugh. “You want to know my secrets, Doctor Lecter? There isn't much you don't already know.”

Hannibal's mouth curved up slightly, a ghost of a smile crossing his face before it went blank again. “Everyone has things they chose to keep locked inside themselves. I can't deny that I often wonder what you have locked up inside your own mind. What secrets you don't want to share. Big or small, they intrigue me.” 

Will smiled to himself, as he briefly glanced across the room. He had a good secret, one that Hannibal had no idea about. One that he didn't mind sharing with him. But, being the stubborn person that he was, he couldn't just give it to him for free. 

“Tell you what,” he said thoughtfully. “I'll tell you one of mine, but only if you tell me one of yours. That way we're even. I tell you so much as it is. Let me see what you have hidden deep inside your mind.”

“I'm afraid that none of mine are all that pleasant, Will,” he said as he stood and walked to the window. “But I am willing to share with you if you are willing to share with me.” He turned to look at Will, “Deal?” 

Will nodded in return, curiosity now getting the better of him. “Deal.” 

He watched as Hannibal paced in the space between the kitchen and living area. Will could sense the shift in his mood. He had gone from casually picking at him, to stone serious in just a matter of moments. Suddenly worried he had crossed some line that he shouldn't have he stood and walked to the other side of the kitchen counter. 

“Look, Hannibal, if you don't want to tell me anything, that's fine. I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way.” He enjoyed Hannibal's company more than anyone else he knew. Sometimes he wondered why, but he had decided that he didn't want to think too much about that. Some secrets were best kept if you didn't even let yourself know about them. 

“Of course not, Will.” He looked shocked that Will would even say such a thing. “If I did not wish to tell you, I would have said so. I know you to be an understanding individual. It is simply the memory of what I'm going to tell you. It's not an easy one to revisit. We have mentioned it to an extent before, but I am afraid that I wasn't completely truthful.” 

“Oh, okay. Good,” Will said in relief. “Well...not GOOD. Shit. You know what I mean. I'm glad that you feel comfortable sharing with me.” God he could be such an idiot sometimes, and he moved his gaze down to the floor, hoping to hid his embarrassment. Luckily, Hannibal always seemed to find it amusing. Will found that annoying at times,but now, he was just happy that he hadn't offended his friend. 

“Is it about your parents?” he asked. “That's the only thing that I can think of that we have talked about that would be this difficult for you to talk about.” 

Hannibal smiled at him, “In a way it involves them, yes.” he said. “It's actually about my sister.” 

Will's lifted his head, confusion written all over his face , “You have a sister? You didn't mention her at all.” 

Hannibal turned back toward the window and stared out at the sky, inky black by now, with only a few traces of light whispering at the horizon. “Had. She is deceased.” 

“Oh. How-,” he started and then thought better of it. “No. Never mind. You don't have to tell me.” 

“You remember how my parent's died, I assume?” Hannibal said to Will, looking back to see him nod before turning back to the window. 

Will remembered that conversation well. A country in war, a wealthy family seeking refuge from looters and moving to a smaller, less obvious cottage in the woods. An accident with some soldiers that left all but Hannibal dead. He had actually had a nightmare about it that night. Now he suspects that Hannibal wasn't alone, but was left to care for his sister. He wasn't sure that was much better. 

“She was with me when we lost them. I was fiercely protective of her already, but even more so after the accident. Once they were gone, we were alone in the cottage. I knew enough at that age to get by, but we weren't what I would call well off. I could hunt, and I could make a fire. I would tell her stories to soothe her to sleep.” 

He turned and Will could see the fondness in his eyes. Sadness creeping in at the edges, but that initial fondness of the memory made Will smile. He was glad the memory wasn't all bad. 

“ Her name was Misha,” he said to him. “I called her Mazasis. It means “little one”. I was her favorite person, and she was mine.” He sighed. “Some soldiers eventually found us there in that small cottage. She did not survive the encounter.” He paused and made his way back to his chair. “Forgive me Will, but I do not think that I can go into more detail than that.” 

Will sat there for a moment, silence settling between them. His thoughts going back in time, seeing Hannibal as a child, cold and alone. Mourning not only the loss of his parents, but also the loss of his best friend. He didn't want to think of the horrors that he had to see that resulted in Misha's death. 

“I am so sorry Hannibal.” The words felt weak and useless as they came out of his mouth. He worked with death so much, but he never learned how people comforted someone when a loved one died. It was a skill that was lost to him. 

“Thank you. I assure you, I am fine” he said with a small smile. Many years have passed, and the people responsible are long gone. I appreciate your sympathy Will, but it isn't needed.”

“I...I don't know what to say. I didn't think you would share anything like that. I was expecting that you would tell me about the one time you had to buy cheap white bread and you secretly liked it. Instead, you tell me this very deep, personal thing.” He felt stupid for even opening his mouth. This is why he has so few friends. “Um, I don't think that came out right. Thank you for trusting me enough to share such a personal thing. That's what I mean.” 

Hannibal laughed, which made Will feel both relief and embarrassment. “Now you may make it up to me by telling me your own secret. That was the agreement.” He still had the traces of sadness in his eyes as he joked. Will could see it. Most people would probably miss it entirely, but he was better at noticing these things. He understood emotions better than most people thought he did. That's why he showed so little of them when he around anyone. It's so easy to drown in them. 

He shook himself from those thoughts. He knew Hannibal didn't want him to lose himself in the sadness of his memories. Besides, he was sure that he could make him forget about it for at least a moment. He hoped he could anyway. 

“I'm afraid that compared to what you just shared, mine isn't much. I know you'll appreciate it on some level, but it won't leave the same impression that yours left on me,” he said scooting to the edge of his chair. 

His head cocked slightly to one side, studying Will as if he was racing to figure it out before he even got up from the chair. “I'm sure that whatever you plan on sharing with me is going to be satisfactory, Will. You are constantly surprising me after all.” 

Will let out a small laugh, partially due to nerves, why was he all of a sudden nervous?! And partially because he was anticipating the look on Hannibal's face as he walked over to his dusty, seemingly unused piano and sat down. 

“Mine is more a demonstration than a confession. I hope that's okay,” he said as he glanced up at Hannibal. 

He saw the man's eyes going from Will back to the piano a few times, the slightest hint of surprise in them as they did so. “You play?” He heard him ask, barely above a whisper. 

He felt more than a little smug now. He had managed to keep something from his unofficial, all knowing therapist. “I do. Maybe not what you're used to, but I'm actually not that bad. Taught myself in middle school. Music is full of emotions, but I don't mind losing myself in a song like I do in a person. Easier to turn off, I guess,” he said with a shrug. 

“I would have to agree with that assessment,” Hannibal said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his hands. “And do you plan on actually playing something for me, or are you just going to leave me wondering just how good you are?” 

Will ran his hand through his hair, keeping it on his neck for a moment, even more nervous than he had been a few moments ago. “Well, I had debated just telling you at first. I figured it would be fun to see how far you would go to get me at a piano. Then you told me your story, and it made you sad. And you can laugh it off, or analyze it as you see fit, but I don't like seeing you sad.” He glanced over and gave him a crooked smile. “So that pretty much settled it. I'm going to play for you.” 

“That is a very kind gesture, thank you.” He stood up and walked over to stand next to the piano, looking down at Will with kindness. “And it is very much appreciated. What will you be playing?” There was a hint of something else there. Something that Hannibal was saying without words, and completely with his eyes. Will pretended not to notice. 

He cleared his throat nervously, trying to think of a song, any song that he could play. He finally remembered one, and felt a slight flush of his cheeks. 

“Um, well, for some reason, my mind has completely blanked out on every song but one. Do you know any Elton John?” he winced a little before meeting Hannibal's eyes, expecting to see disgust at his musical choices. Surprisingly, he saw only a hint of amusement. 

“I am familiar with him. Not my preferred taste in music, but I appreciate his talent,” he stated, surprising Will even further. 

“That's....not what I expected to hear, but I'm very glad that I did,” he said, shoulders releasing a fraction of the tension he was holding in them. “Okay, just one other thing. Please don't mention this to anyone else. It's not something I've really shared with anyone else. Not because it is this big dark secret, or that I'm self conscious or whatever. It's just....it's mine. It's my thing. I don't mind sharing it with you, not exactly sure why that is, but I don't want to share this with everyone like I have to share other things.” 

He felt Hannibal put his hand on his shoulder and give a small, reassuring squeeze. “You have my word, Will. You share too much of yourself with everyone as it is. I will keep this between the two of us. Please, continue.” 

Will flexed his fingers a few times before settling them on the keys. He hesitated once more, “So, like I said, this is the only song that came to mind. So I apologize if-” 

Hannibal interrupted, “I can promise you that I will enjoy whatever you play for me. As I said before, while it isn't my preferred genre, I appreciate it. It may surprise you to know that I know quite a few of his songs. I wouldn't call myself an avid fan, but I also wouldn't go out of my way to avoid listening to any of them.” 

Will decided to just shut up and play. That was enough reassurance for him, and getting it over with seemed the best tactic at this point. He was getting irritated at himself for being so nervous about this. He set his fingers back onto the keys and began to play. 

As the first notes of Your Song filled the room, he dared not look up at Hannibal. He didn't need to see the keys to play, but Hannibal didn't know that so he kept his eyes down, thankful for the distraction. He was midway through the first verse when Hannibal joined him on the piano bench and put hand over one of Will's. His face turned a deep red color at the touch. He hated it. He thought he was horrible. Why else would he have stopped him? 

He glanced over slowly, dreading the look he would see on his face, the polite apology for stopping him and whatever clever excuse that the therapist would manage to find. Instead, he saw something completely unexpected. Something he never expected to see. Awe, in the truest form he had ever seen it. He opened his mouth, started to say something, anything, but before his brain could think of a proper sentence, Hannibal spoke. 

“Will you sing it to me as well, Will?” 

His heart did a somersault in his chest and started beating so quickly that it felt as if it would vibrate right out of his body. Hannibal wanted him to sing for him? But why? 

“I....um. Yeah, okay,” he finally managed to get out after a few seconds. He straightened his posture and started playing again, not knowing how his hands had steadied themselves enough to play properly. He locked his eyes on the keys again. There's definitely no way he could look at him while he was singing. No way, no how. Why was he even doing this? He could have said no. Hannibal would have understood and would have been fine. He knew he would have. He could still say no, really. He could, but he wasn't going to. He knew it. He was doing this to make Hannibal happy. He would think about the reasons for that later. 

He cleared his throat right before his cue, and sang. 

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside  
I'm not one of those who can easily hide,  
I don't have much money,  
but boy if I did  
I'd buy a big house where we both could live...

He continued with the rest of the song. He didn't dare look up, not even once. He had never played like this for anyone, much less SUNG to them as he did it. He focused on the lyrics, on how the keys felt under his fingers, hell, he even focused on how good it made him feel to play for Hannibal like this. So intimately. Anything but actually looking at the man himself. 

When he finished the last note, he relaxed his posture and looked over at Hannibal from the corner of his eye. Neither man moved. He couldn't see him properly, couldn't tell what he felt. Finally, he turned to him, heart pounding away again. He could feel it at every pulse point, his whole body was on a high from the music and the nerves. If he hadn't felt so anxious about Hannibal's reaction, it would almost be euphoric. 

When he finally met Hannibal's eyes, what he saw there was beautiful. Adoration and something else that he didn't get to inspect further because suddenly his lips were being crushed by Hannibal's. He felt arms wrap around him, pulling him closer than they had ever been, nothing was forceful, but it was urgent. 

Will froze, but only for a moment. All those questions and feelings that he hadn't let himself examine before now exploded in his mind. All the small touches he had ignored, the thrill he tried to stifle whenever he knew he would see Hannibal, all of it stuffed away in a box in his head. It was all pouring out now, and he had no intentions of putting any of it back. 

He returned the kiss, with as much enthusiasm as he could throw into it. Drinking in the taste of Hannibal's lips, delighted when he not only heard, but felt a soft moan escape them. Suddenly, he deepened the kiss and Will thought he would be content to drown in Hannibal after all. He put a hand on the back of his neck to hold him there and let the other just wander. He ran it up his chest, through his hair, brushed the side of his face. He didn't want to let him go, didn't want to stop touching him. He wanted to stay at this old, dusty piano forever and die kissing this man. He could think of no better way to go. 

They finally parted, and Will took a small comfort in the fact that his heart wasn't the only one pounding anymore. They sat there, resting their foreheads against each other, breathing heavy, each still ghosting a hand over the other. 

Hannibal broke the silence with a short, breathy laugh. “I have something else that I feel obligated to tell you.” 

Will moved his head to lay comfortably on Hannibal's shoulder, his hand trailing the buttons of his shirt. “Hmm? What's that?” 

Hannibal leaned down, planting a kiss on Will's forehead before running a hand through the hair that he had effectively mussed during the kiss. “I have wanted to do that for a very long time.” 

Will laughed, pure happiness this time, “Apparently, I have too. I don't think I wanted to admit it, but I didn't realize how much I had wanted that to happen until it did.” 

“That is very good information to have. I shall use it appropriately,” he replied as he placed several gentle kissed on the inside of Will's neck. 

“Complicates our doctor/patient relationship a bit though, doesn't it?” 

 

“You forget, Will, that you aren't officially my patient,” he says as he claims his lips once again.


End file.
